Conservation Pulse

by Lilian Gikandi
Media Officer

On World Wildlife Day, WWF will join some of the world’s best-known corporations, NGOs and sports teams in removing nature from their branding in an action that aims to highlight the dramatic loss of biodiversity globally and the social and economic risks it poses. 

WWF’s panda will disappear (from its logo) for the first time in 60 years and for a good cause. The rate at which we are losing biodiversity calls for drastic measures. In less than half a century, human activity has resulted in wildlife populations plummeting by an average of 68%. Our destruction of nature is putting one million species at risk of extinction, driving the emergence of pandemics, exacerbating climate change and undermining development.  And for this reason, some of your favourite brands will have their wolves, lions, owls missing from their logos on the day.

The #WorldWithoutNature campaign will bring together over 80 famous brands and teams for a common cause, speaking up for nature. WWF’s Living Planet Report 2020 shows that if the world continues with  “business as usual”, the loss of biodiversity will take decades to reverse at best and further irreversible biodiversity losses are likely, resulting in a planet that cannot support current and future generations of people.

This campaign started as a One Minute Briefs idea that received widespread praise on social media last World Wildlife Day and has now been brought to life with support from the Voice for the Planet coalition which includes WWF. 

As governments from around the world will meet to agree on a new global agreement for nature, like the one we have for climate. WWF is calling on global leaders to step up to the challenge of delivering an ambitious global plan to tackle biodiversity loss and set nature on the path to recovery this decade. Members of the public can show world leaders they care about a more sustainable future for all by adding their voice for the planet.

Brands are invited to participate on the day by photoshopping the "nature" out of their logo, updating their social media profiles and posting about their support for the campaign using the #WorldWithoutNature hashtag.

The past 12 months will, of course, be remembered for COVID-19 and the terrible suffering and disruption it caused to millions of people. But could 2020 also be seen as the year when humanity finally awoke to the crisis of nature loss?

WWF International Director General Marco Lambertini explores this question in his new blog on the day when WWF publishes its review of the last year.

He highlights how global conservation efforts in 2020 have been strongly shaped by the disastrous COVID-19 pandemic, with its roots in environmental threats such as deforestation and the wildlife trade.

Although COVID-19 has led to many challenges, it has also provided ultimate proof of why humanity can no longer take the natural world for granted. As a result, biodiversity and nature have risen to the top of the global agenda like never before, with a growing recognition of the links between the nature, climate and health crises.

This new awareness was demonstrated at the first ever UN Biodiversity Summit, and in the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature – a commitment by over 80 world leaders to reverse nature loss by 2030, including putting nature at the heart of COVID-19 recovery strategies.

But awareness and commitments now need to translate into action and fast.

Marco Lambertini says: “The coming years will be a crucial test of whether humanity truly values nature – and is ready to act and embrace a truly sustainable future where both people and nature thrive. If there has ever been an opportunity to heal our relationship with nature, and build a safe future for our children, that opportunity is now.”

Read the WWF Annual Review 2020

© Mat Reding on Unsplash

You might have heard terms like the ‘Super Year for Nature’, the ‘decade of action’ or even the CBD COP and being bandied around, but why now, and what difference will it make?

An urgent need - leaders must step up

We’ve seen global wildlife populations sizes drop 68% since 1970, nature is in freefall and if we continue on the same trajectory, this catastrophic loss will affect us all. 

We cannot afford to continue damaging  our natural ecosystems. Our destruction of nature is putting one million species at risk of extinction, driving the emergence of pandemics, exacerbating climate change and undermining development. 

That’s why this year world leaders are due to meet at a United Nations biodiversity conference in Kunming, China, to agree on a global plan to protect and restore nature.

This all sounds very grand, but how does it relate to me?

We rely on nature for everything from the air that we breath to the freshwater we drink. Our economies rely on nature, our well-being and even our health relies on nature. Even though millions of people are changing their personal behaviours to conserve nature, and millions more are aware of our impact on nature, things aren’t changing quickly enough.

We need a global agreement that commits countries to take action against a set of targets designed to reverse nature loss and protect the incredible diversity of life on our planet.

If you need a reminder of why biodiversity is so important and why we desperately need to reverse its loss, it’s explained in a super simple and interactive way on our Living Planet website.

Hiker looking at the moist evergreen forest on Mt. Panié, New Caledonia, France. © Roger Leguen / WWF

So this conference is important then?

Well, we think so! This is a once-in-a-decade opportunity for nature, and leaders from 193 countries are set to attend the conference to secure an agreement for nature like the one we have for climate to limit global warming. 

It’s organised by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) an international treaty for the conservation of biodiversity and fair use of natural resources. 

What’s the big idea?

The focus is to agree and adopt a global ten year plan to protect and restore nature, with targets for countries to achieve by 2030.

Ultimately, this plan will provide the countries that sign it with a roadmap of what they need to do over the next decade+ to move us towards the ultimate goal of achieving a world where we live in harmony with nature by 2050.

But haven’t we had lots of high level meetings and agreements like this about biodiversity loss? What makes this one different?

We hear you! And yes, we have had several big conferences and agreements about better protecting the environment and halting biodiversity loss. And yes, frustratingly, there have been varying levels of success. But we believe this year we can change course. Our broken relationship with nature - and the risks it brings - has never been clearer and we need countries to come together to agree an ambitious plan to protect nature and at the same time safeguard our future.

But, the draft of the post-2020 Framework looks more promising. A key difference is its increased focus on clear outcomes with firm timelines attached to those outcomes. And, there are clear actions outlined too (the targets) that address the drivers of biodiversity loss (the things causing it) and provide countries with pathways to achieving the outcomes.

So, what does a good global biodiversity plan look like?

Well WWF believes that the current draft UN plan does not go far enough. That’s why we think this event is so important - we need to make sure the targets agreed are robust and science based and the final plan is as comprehensive as possible.

Top 5 areas for greater ambition:

1. 💪Ambition: to secure a sustainable future for us and the planet countries must take action to reverse biodiversity loss and secure a nature-positive world by 2030 
2. 🚜Causes: we must address the root causes, or drivers, of biodiversity loss. This often comes down to human activity and this must be examined. We need new ways to produce the food we eat and ways to cut by half the impact, or footprint, of humankind on the earth.
3. 💰Finance: to succeed countries need to allocate resources, enough money, towards this goal. At the end of the day, nature underpins every element of our society. The cost of inaction far outweighs the cost of action.
4. 📋Check-backs: to make sure the world is on track countries must be held accountable and this should be included in any plans for restoring nature. This is where targets come in - but targets that can be measured.
5. 🙋‍♀️All of society: we all have a part to play, and sometimes groups of people are left out of decision making. Indigenous peoples and local communities must be a part of the process in agreeing biodiversity plans for the next ten years.

That’s where you come in again. We can influence these decisions by signing petitions and showing that nature is our top priority. Every person who signed their Voice for the Planet is putting another voice towards this important issue.

Sign here.

Welcome to the February 2021 issue of Conservation Pulse.

Globally, there have been positive signs of world leaders increasingly committing to put nature on the path to recovery in the coming decade – and we will continue to call for action. Working alongside our many partners, we are also making a difference right now – from helping to extend an important law against deforestation in Paraguay to launching an initiative to safeguard endangered river dolphins around the world.

We’re pressing hard for world leaders to take urgent action to reverse nature loss – putting it in on the path to recovery and safeguarding the future of people too.

So it was great to see leaders build on last year’s groundbreaking Leaders’ Pledge for Nature at the One Planet Summit for Biodiversity. Key announcements made at the summit included a new coalition of more than 50 countries committing to protect 30% of their lands and water by 2030; the launch of a new initiative to help prevent future pandemics by reducing the pressure on the natural world (see our report that explains more about this issue); and financial pledges from a number of governments and other actors to tackle the nature and climate crises. Please add your voice to global calls for action to help create a nature-positive world by 2030 – a world where nature is healthier and more resilient than it is today.

WWF and many others are calling for action to stop the global temperature rise from reaching catastrophic levels.

So we welcome signs of positive intent at the recent Climate Ambition Summit, where 75 world leaders made key commitments to tackle the climate crisis. Several big emitters did not attend the summit so there is much still to do in advance of the UN global climate talks later this year in the UK (read our blog on what’s needed to make the talks a success). Businesses, cities and financial institutions have also joined a campaign that’s trying to build momentum for a shift to a decarbonized economy ahead of the talks. The Race to Zero campaign brings together coalitions of net-zero initiatives from around the world. 

A coalition of individuals, state entities and 60 civil society organizations including WWF have successfully called for the extension of a Paraguayan deforestation law.

President Mario Abdo Benítez has announced that the Zero Deforestation Law will be extended for the next 10 years, offering an opportunity to safeguard the last remaining remnants of the Atlantic Forest, which has been severely impacted by activities such as agriculture and logging. It’s vital that the forest recovers and reconnects – for the sake of forest communities, including Indigenous peoples; for people in urban areas that rely on the forest for drinking water and livelihoods; and for the vast array of wildlife, many of which don’t exist elsewhere on Earth.

The global collapse of nature-based tourism resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has led to catastrophic losses of income for many communities that play an essential role in safeguarding the natural world.

To help address this challenge, we are launching a Collaborative Platform to connect funders with African communities, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, that risk losing their livelihoods from nature-based tourism – helping to provide emergency relief and supporting their efforts to become more resilient against future shocks. The Luc Hoffmann Institute incubated the idea, with WWF now taking things forward with many partners. Thanks go to the many organizations who have supported this initiative – including the lead funder, the Global Environment Facility.